Andrei POV
June 1976
The offices of Investors in Industry—3i—in the City were a temple to a different kind of capital. The air smelled of old paper, cigar smoke, and quiet ambition. Dad had brought me along for a meeting with an old university friend, Mr. Alistair Thorne, now a senior director. It was framed as a learning opportunity for me, but for Dad, it was a subtle move: introducing his son, the one with the media bent, to the machinery that funded innovation.
Mr. Thorne was a greyhound of a man—lean, suited in charcoal, with eyes that calculated the depreciation schedule of the furniture as he shook my hand. "So, you're the mind behind the literary feline," he said, his smile not quite reaching those analytical eyes. "Turning a profit in children's publishing is a feat. Turning it into a licensing game before your eighth birthday is… noteworthy."
The meeting was a masterclass in subtext. They spoke of steel, shipping, and a new interest 3i had in a company making "microcomputers." I listened, the System running a passive analysis on Thorne's speech patterns and Dad's negotiating posture. Thorne was probing for an entry point into Stevens Consolidated; Daniel, ever the consolidator, was politely shielding his assets while keeping the connection warm.
When Thorne asked me, almost as an afterthought, what I found interesting, I gave my prepared, seven-year-old's answer: "Systems, sir. Like in my book maze. A good system makes complex things work simply. Like the system that turns sand into computer chips, or an idea into a company."
Thorne's eyebrow lifted a millimeter. He looked at Dad. "He has your way of cutting to the structural heart of a matter." He handed me a glossy brochure for a 3i-funded firm. "Remember the name. The future often looks like this before it looks profitable."
In the car home, Dad was pensive. "Alistair is a shark," he said finally. "A polite, brilliant shark. Remember that. Venture capital isn't charity; it's a calculated hunt for the next giant. They provide rocket fuel, but they always own a piece of the launchpad."
[ CONTACT ACQUIRED: Alistair Thorne, 3i. ]
[ Profile: Venture Capitalist. High Influence. Risk-Averse to outward appearances, aggressively opportunistic at core. ]
[ Insight: Early-stage finance is a game of pattern recognition and access. Social capital (your introduction) is the initial key. ]
[ Suggestion: Maintain periodic, low-stakes contact. Utility will increase post-1980. ]
A week later, the focus shifted from the future's machinery to its inheritance. We travelled to Wentworth Hall, the Stevens family's main seat in the Cotswolds, for Dad's birthday. The "house" in London was a townhouse; this was an estate.
It was not a castle, but a sprawling, honey-stoned Jacobean mansion set within a rolling park. It spoke of wealth that had matured into landscape. Damien whooped, racing across the gravel. Daphne whispered, "It's a palace." Mum squeezed Dad's arm, a silent acknowledgment of the weight this place carried.
We were greeted not just by staff, but by Uncle Sebastian, Dad's older brother, the nominal head of the family and steward of Wentworth. Where Dad was solid rock, Sebastian was polished marble—colder, more reserved, with an air of carrying centuries of tradition on his shoulders.
The birthday dinner was a formal affair in a dining hall lined with portraits of severe-looking ancestors. Sebastian presided,
toasting Daniel's health and the "continued stability" of the family interests. The conversation was of timber, tenants, and tax laws. It was a world away from microprocessors and museum games.
I watched my father here. He was respectful but relaxed. This was his past, but not his engine room. His power was self-made within the inherited frame. I saw the dynamic: Uncle was the custodian of legacy, Daniel its active investor.
Later, exploring a dusty library wing with Damien, I found a glass case. Inside was not a book, but the original, faded share certificate for the family's first tin mine, dated 1842. The foundational asset. I placed a hand on the glass.
[ SYSTEM NOTICE: SIGNIFICANT ARTIFACT DETECTED. ]
[ Asset: Foundational Document - 'Stevens Consolidated' Origin. ]
[ Scan Complete. Symbolic value: High. ]
[ Integration Note: Legacy is a multi-generational system. You are a new variable in an old algorithm. ]
The weekend was a lesson in layers. The 3i meeting showed me the cutting edge of capital—fluid, searching, disruptive. Wentworth Hall showed me the deep bedrock of capital—solid, heavy, enduring. One sought to create giants. The other was a giant, sleeping in the land.
On the journey back to London, I synthesized the data. To build a legacy in Hollywood, I would need both. I would need the disruptive, venture-capital mindset to spot and back the new wave. But I would also need the enduring, institutional weight of a Wentworth Hall to weather the storms and own my creations in perpetuity. I couldn't just be a producer. I had to become a studio. And a studio was both a daring venture and a lasting estate.
The game was clarifying. The board had a Silicon Valley, a Hollywood, and a Wentworth Hall. I was a piece just learning to move, but I was starting to see all the squares.
A/N
Andrei has seen the two poles of capital: the aggressive hunt of venture and the deep anchor of inheritance. His concept of a 'legacy' is now more concrete and daunting. How will he begin to build his own version of this, starting with the 'First Rung' project and his growing media platform?)